Laana
by Sniglet
Summary: Laana, a lioncub with 3 legs, comes to the pridelands with her mother. Rabi, the future king, becomes her best friend. This takes place long after the original lion king. Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

You can see my art for this story at: h t t p / f a n a r t . l i o n k i n g . o r g / A r t i s t s / s o u t h p a w /

Hope you like it!

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Umeme came on a sunny morning when the birds were singing, and antelope grazing. She saw the lionesses lying around on Pride Rock, and the cubs playing, and she knew she wanted to stay there.

"Tell me, where is the king of this pride?" She asked one lioness.

"Follow me. I will take you to Ukinzani."

The Lion King was sitting on Pride Rock.

"Your Majesty, I would be delighted if I could join your pride."

"What is your name?"

"It is Umeme."

"Umeme, you are welcome to the Pride, as long as you can hunt with us. Do you have any cubs?" He asked with hope in his eyes.

"No," Answered Umeme. But Ukinzani could tell she was hiding something.

Rabi (pronounced Robby) and Hara were playing.

"What should we play?" Rabi asked.

"You decide. You're the Prince."

"Well..."

"I know, let's go in the tall grass and play hide and go seek!"

"Okay," said Rabi, and they started off. Then He stopped, and looked down.

"Rabi, come on! We don't have all day!" Hara complained.

"Come here, I think I found something!"

Rabi had indeed found something. It was a little cub, about his age. She had bright blue eyes, and a yellow-gold coat.

"My name's Rabi. What's your name?" Rabi asked the cub.

"My mommy says to nevah talk to stwangers. You're in trouble, 'cause I'm a stwanger. So you bettah weave, or your mommy'l beach you up."

"You're not a stranger, you're nice. And besides, my mama wouldn't beat me up, 'cause I'm gonna be King."

"King's die. Mommy told me. Somebody killed 'im."

"They do not. Come on, let's play! What's your name again?"

"I'm not tewwing. You're gonna be in big twubble."

"Come on, Rabi, let's play. Just leave her here." Hara told Rabi, and they walked away.

"Hey, wait fo' me!" called the cub as she struggled to her feet.

She could barely stand up.

"Hey, you have three legs!" Hara said.

"She does?" asked Rabi.

The cub did have only three legs. They counted them: 1,2,3. The back left one was missing. It wasn't cut off at any point, it just wasn't there.

"What happened to you?" Hara wondered.

"Nufin'," the cub was ashamed of her appearance, and looked away.

"Hey, I don't care if you have three legs. It doesn't matter to me," said Rabi.

Laana began to cry. Laana was her name. She didn't know why she was missing a leg, and she had never known, or else she had never understood. Her mommy just said she was born that way. Laana didn't know what born was, and whenever she asked her mother again why she didn't have a leg, her mother only shook her head and said, "Go to sleep."

Hara encouraged her crying. "You look stupid!" he said, laughing, "Go back where you belong, where all the other three-legged creatures are. Or go with the tortoises, where their pace will match yours. Tortoise, tortoise, tortoise!"

Now Laana's shame turned to anger, and she jumped at Hara and bit his paw.

"Ooooh, getting tough now, aren't we? Well, I can do it right back," said Hara as he bit her ear.

"Stop it, she's a girl!" said Rabi.

"And she has three legs. Three legs, three legs, three legs!" Hara danced around the cub.

Rabi just stood there. He knew he should do something, but he didn't want Hara to tease him, too.

"Hey mom, guess what I found!" said Hara, as he bounded over pride rock.

"What did you find?" asked his mother, amused.

Hara dragged Laana by her tail into his mother's view.

" I found a three-legged lion cub."

Hara's mother was a very good lioness, but a deformed cub was something she had never seen before. It seemed like a sign of evil to her.

"Eww," Hara's mom said.

"Its name is Laana," Hara said, pleased to see his mother disgusted, "It means curse."

"Get it out of here. It may curse the pride."

Laana was frightened beyond description. Hara dragged her to nowhere in particular. Then he saw the river, and headed towards it.

"Let's see if you can swim!" Hara evilly cackled. Laana was more frightened than ever.

"No, pwease..." she cried. There were crocodiles in the water.

"Let her go, Hara," Rabi coldly ordered out of the shadows.

"Okay!" Hara pushed her into the river. The crocodiles hurried to the drowning cub. They were hungry.

Rabi jumped onto the back of one. He sank his claws into its scaly body. The crocodile turned over and dived for its prey. Rabi found himself in the creature's mouth, struggling for breath. Suddenly, it let go, and turned around.

Rabi found the surface and coughed up muddy water. He looked around. The crocodiles had gone. And so was Laana. A crocodile surfaced, a limp, muddy animal in its mouth.

"Laana!"

The crocodile turned. Rabi glared at it coldly. His glare was pure anger. It was enough to frighten a crocodile.

And it did.

The monster dropped Laana and swam off like a frightened gazelle.

Rabi dived for Laana. It was a good thing his dad gave him swimming lessons.

The muddy Laana scrambled to her feet after she had recovered from her wet adventure. Rabi was sitting next to her, grooming himself. He was covered in thick, dry mud.

"Blech! This mud tastes horrible!" Rabi said with a funny face.

Laana giggled. She couldn't help it.

Rabi turned. He was surprised to see Laana in such good spirits after her close encounter with the crocodiles. He felt miserable. His coat was all dirty, he hadn't known that Laana was alive until now, and he wasn't even sure how he had gotten out of that mess. His mind was full of confusion and worry. Why did the crocodiles just run off like that? Was Laana hurt at all? Where was Hara?

"Mama, mama! Rabi is dead! Rabi is dead! I tried to stop him, but he just jumped in the water and a crocodile ate him!"

"What!"

"A crocodile ate Rabi!"

"How did that happen?"

"I was feeding that cursed lion cub to the crocodiles, and Rabi just jumped in there, and the crocodiles ate him!"

"Oh dear. We should tell Ukinzani. But let's not tell him about the cursed lion cub. Let's just say the crocodiles grabbed him and pulled him in."

"Okay." Hara sniffed.

So they walked over to Ukinzani and told him. He became very upset by this news. This meant that Hara, who was the next oldest, would be the next king. (Not that he didn't like Hara, he just thought Rabi would be a better king.)

"I would like to talk to Hara alone, please," Ukinzani told Hara's mother.

"All right." She said, and left.

"Hara, what were Rabi's last words?"

"Let her go, Hara."

"Why did he say that?"

"Um, well..."

"It seems you are leaving something out."

"Well, I found this disgusting thing, and Rabi didn't want me to put it in the river where it belongs."

"And he jumped in to save it?"

"Yes."

"And what was this thing?"

Hara paused. Then he broke down and told the truth.

"All right, it's all my fault! He wanted to save Laana. I didn't like her because she's all messed up."

"Who is Laana?"

"She's a cub who we found, and she has three legs."

"A cub? Where is she from?"

"She didn't say."

"Do you realize what you have done?"

"Yes, I do. I have destroyed a vile creature who would have died anyway. Rabi destroyed himself."

"That is not what you have done, Hara. Think about what you've done."

Hara thought. "Well, I guess I did basically kill Rabi. But he chose to jump in, it was his choice."

"This is not about Rabi anymore, all though it does make me very sad." He paused. "Laana could have been the only hope we had." He looked at Hara, his face full of sorrow.

"Oh." said Hara. He looked down at the stone floor and traced his paw around in the dust.

You see, the Pride was shrinking. Most of the lionesses in the pride were very old, and whenever a cub was born, the whole pride hopefully expected a girl. Every time a male cub was born. There were many cubs in line for the throne. Without any more lionesses, the pride would not survive. Hara realized this, and he realized what a foolish thing he had done. However, Ukinzani wasn't done yet.

"You have drowned the only hope for our pride. Why didn't you think? Why?"

Although Ukinzani wasn't shouting at him, Hara felt like he was. He cringed, as if expecting a blow from the king's paw.

"Why?" he asked, a little gentler.

A few tears began to find their way out of Hara's eye. "I din't like her."

"You didn't like her."

"I'm sorry. Really." More tears began trickling down his cheeks. He still cowered down, expecting a blow, maybe not with a paw, but with words.

Ukinzani realized that Hara was terrified. He laid a gentle paw on Hara's shoulder. Hara jumped.

"I just hope you won't do anything so rash again. I am not angry at you. No, maybe I am, but I will not hurt you. You can leave now.

Hara slowly turned around, and then dashed out of the cave.

Rabi and Laana had cleaned themselves as best they could after their deathly experience.

"Where are we?" Laana asked.

"I have no idea. We must have been washed downstream a little, or a lot."

Laana was scared. "Can we get back?"

"I don't know. We should probably go... that way." he pointed with his paw.

They began traveling. The land was grassy, with many stones and holes to trip on. They made their way slowly. Each of them often stumbled, and they always helped each other up.

The cubs grew weary and hungry, but they did not stop until night fell. They found a tree to use for shelter. They were so very tired, they instantly fell asleep to the quiet rhythm of the moonlit night.

The morning was hot and dry. Laana and Rabi walked on, their pace very slow. They had no idea where they were. Aimlessly, they hiked onwards. Then they saw Pride Rock, far out in the distance. They ran towards it, or at least Rabi did. Laana could not run. After awhile, Rabi realized Laana was no longer beside him. He turned around. Far behind him was Laana, struggling to stand up. He trotted back to her.

"Oh, Laana," Rabi said, and sighed. He helped her get on her three feet.

"I nevah wan before," Laana said, "Mama always cawwy me."

"You'll have to learn to run, then." He pretended he only had three legs and tried to find the best way to run. After awhile, he finally said, "Well, I guess if you push off with your back leg, and then with your front legs, like this, you could run, but not very fast."

Laana attempted this form of running, but she quickly stumbled and fell. She picked herself up, and tried again.

She fixed her eyes on Pride Rock with a determined gaze. She WAS going to get there no matter what. She pushed off with her back leg and ran towards it. She ran at an impossible speed.

"Hey, wait up!" Rabi called. He ran with all his might, but he could not get past Laana. Her tail tickled his whiskers.

After some hard running by both, they reached Pride Rock.

"Rabi! You're alive!" Rabi's mother, Duara, who had been crying, looked up when she heard the pitter-patter of the cub's feet. "Who's that?" her gaze drifted towards the three-legged cub.

"I is Laana."

"Did you think I was dead?" asked Rabi.

"Yes. Hara told us what happened."

"Oh."

"We must tell you're father. He still thinks you are dead."

They ran into the cave of Pride Rock, where Ukinzani was sleeping.

"Ukinzani, wake up!" said Duara.

"Dad! Da-ad, I'm ali-ive!" Rabi tugged at his father's tail with his teeth.

"Rabi? Is that you?" said Ukinzani, without opening his eyes.

"Yup, it's me, wake up! Rowrr!"

Ukinzani smiled, his eyes still closed. "I must be dreaming. My son can roar like a King."

"Don't be silly, dad. I can't roar near as good as you can."

Ukinzani laughed and opened his eyes. "Okay, Rabi, how much did Hara lie? what _really_ happened? Were you really eaten by alligators?"

"Almost. Good thing you taught me to swim, Dad," Rabi grinned.

Rabi's father was amazed. "You _really_ jumped into the river to save someone's life?"

"Um... yea..."

Then Ukinzani noticed Laana, who was a way away from the other three, trying to be invisible. "Come here,_ Laana_," he said. He spoke the name tenderly, pronouncing the two A's separately, _La-ana_."

Laana moved towards him.

"Laana, I would usually choose someone in the pride, but since you are the only one, I am selecting you. You are betrothed to Rabi. One day you will be the Queen of Pride Rock."

Ukinzani Knew Umeme was Laana's mother. It was obvious to him. But Umeme did not know that. So when he walked up to her with Laana at his side, she was surprised, and a little frightened.

"You have lied to me, Umeme," was simply what he said. No expression was visible in his face or voice.

"I'm sorry," Umeme said, and then she sobbed out, "Please, don't hurt Laana, my only cub."

"Why would I hurt her?"

"Fronwial didn't want her. He would have killed her if I hadn't run away. She is deformed, he said, not shaped right, disfigured, ill-shaped, wrong, he said. He called her Laana. And I liked the name, until I found out what it means. Curse. My own cub, a curse."

"Mamma, why are you cwying?" Laana said, walking up to her mother, and rubbing against her mother's leg in an effort to comfort her. Laana lost her balance, because she did not have four legs. She toppled over. Umeme sobbed even louder.

"Mommy, stop cwying. You don't hafta be so sad. You can laugh, like me, see, ha ha ha!"

Ukinzani smiled. Laana was a good cub. She would make a wonderful Queen for Rabi. His life full, he went back to the cave to take another nap.


	2. Chapter 2

"Why are you so fat?" a young cub asked Jevala. She smiled her warm old smile that she had used on cubs for many years. 

"Because I am going to have a cub. I'm working on making her right now," Jevala answered.

"How do you know it's a _girl_?" the cub asked.

"I know. She has to be a girl. We need one."

"Why?"

"Because that curse cub is not what the future king should marry."

"Huh?"

"You wouldn't understand. You're too young."

The cub Put on a fierce face. Then he said, "I ain't too young for nuthin'."

"Okay, listen. You see that cub over there?" Jevala poited her toe towards Laana, who was talking cheerfully to Rabi.

"Ya mean the one that's missin' a leg? I see 'er."

"That's the whole problem. She is missing a leg, and she'll give birth to more cubs with missing legs, and everything will be all wrong."

"But can't she just get 'er leg growed back on 'er?" questioned the cub.

"No. She never had a leg, and she never will."

"Oh." The cub looked over at Laana. "Whatever," he said, then trotted off to play with his friends.

Jevala sighed. _Cubs these days. They don't care._

Jevala gave birth to a female lion cub afew weeks later. It was perfect. Not deformed at all. But it was dead.


	3. Chapter 3

Rabi was proud of his growing mane. Although right now it looked like the fringe on a zebra's neck, he imagined how it would look someday soon when it was fully grown, a crown fit for a king, and that was what made him proud. He looked at his reflection in the water hole almost every day, to see if anything had grown. 

Laana was growing, too. Now she was almost as tall as her mother. More importantly, she knew how to walk or run just as good as any other lioness -- or maybe even better. "Since I don't have four legs," she said, "I have less of a chance 'a steppin' into holes."

King Ukinzani was also growing. He was growing old. His mane had streaks of gray running through it, he had wrinkles around his eyes, and he was so stiff and achy in his bones that most of the time he stayed inside Pride Rock. But he was still kind and wise, and still most everybody loved him.

There were much fewer cubs in the pride. More than half of the male cubs had left to become kings of their own prides, for they had no chance here. Hara stayed, though. A bit like the one called Scar, long before him, he stayed, hoping and waiting for a chance to become king.

The lionesses were becoming very few. Two thirds of them had died of old age and hunting accidents, and all but one were too old to have cubs.

That one who wasn't too old was Umeme, Laana's mother. In fact, she was due to have a cub anytime now.

And she did. She called her Little Ema, after her mother. She was very cute, and she looked just like Laana did when she was a cub, except for one thing. You can probably guess what that one thing is.

"Ema should be the next queen," the lionesses were saying, "We can't have a crippled curse be the next queen."

"But can't you see, Rabi loves Laana," said Umeme, "They are meant for each other."

"No one is meant for her. Ema should be the next queen." And they told this to Ukinzani.

Ukinzani didn't know what to do. The lionesses obviously despised Laana, and that wasn't a very good thing for a future queen.

"And look at it this way," said Hara's mother, "Ema was born in the pride, and Laana wasn't."

After a night of tossing and turning over it, the king finally decided.

"Ema will be your next queen," he told the lionesses, and he got some monkey to hold her up to the sunlight.

But the day was cloudy.

"Laana?" said Rabi, walking through the tall grass. Where was she? She didn't usually run off like this. "Laana?"

He found her lying in the grass, wiping her wet eyes with the back of her paw.

"Laana, don't cry."

"Can't you tell I'm trying not to?" she sniffed.

"_I_ wanted you to be queen."

"That's not what I'm crying about."

"Then what is it?"

"I'm leaving. I'm never coming back."

"What? Why?"

"No one wants me here, and I don't want to stay. So goodbye." she stood up, and walked towards the direction of the outerlands. She looked back. "Aren't you going to say goodbye?"

"Goodbye? No, I'm not saying goodbye. You're going to come back. I know you will. You can't stand leaving the pride for a couple of days. You'll just come right back!"

Laana ran away from the pridelands.

_Hmph! She'll be back,_ Rabi thought. But in the back of his mind, he knew she never would. And the thought of having a queen who was years younger than him was not appealing. _But it'll be a looong time before I'm king, and my mane'll be grown by then._

Rain was pouring when Rabi got back to pride rock, and everyone was inside. Except for Duara, who was waiting for Rabi to get back. When she saw him, she ran down to greet him. But she was old, and her footing was not as sure as it used to be, especially in rain. She slipped and fell from Pride Rock.

"Mother!" Rabi yelled, as he saw Duara hit the ground. He ran to her Rabi's mother slowly stood up. "I'm all right, Rabi," she grunted, and shook her head to clear it. She shook her head again. She closed her eyes, then opened them again. "Rabi," she said, "I can't see you."

"W-what d'you mean, Mom?"

"I can't see anything."

"Well, let's go inside." Rabi walked up the rock. Duara didn't move.

"I can't climb up there. I can't see it. I think I've gone blind."

"I'll help you up there. You've been up and down it so many times, you can do it with your eyes closed." He rubbed himself against her. "Come over here... Now, step up..."

He led her up the side of the rock and into the cave.

Then they both went to sleep. What a horrible day! Rabi could only hope that in the morning, Laana would come back, and Duara would be able to see.

But neither of those things hapened. His mother's eyes did not improve, and she remained inside Pride Rock for her own safety, with Ukinzani, who was growing older and weaker. Over the weeks, it was mostly Rabi who settled the disputes of the pride. If he could not decide on something, then he would ask his father. He began to need his father's help less and less, and this made Rabi more and more like a King every day. But Rabi was tired of doing this sort of thing every day, and he hated it.

The only thing that made Rabi happy was watching little Ema play. She reminded him of when he was little, and she was so much like her older sister. The thought of Laana made his heart ache, and the thought of having this little tiny cub being his queen was kind of disgusting.


	4. Chapter 4

One sunny morning, though cloudy in Rabi's heart, Rabi woke up, and yawned. Beside him, his mother was sleeping, and beside her, his father. He didn't stand up yet. He lay there and watched the rise and fall of his parents' sides. Why did they have to be so old? Why couldn't they just stay like they used to be? 

Then Rabi noticed something. His father's side was not rising and falling. He was not breathing! Rabi calmly walked over to his father and touched him, nose to nose.

King Ukinzani was dead.

Rabi looked around at the pride. _Now I am supposed to be King,_ Rabi thought. _I never thought it would be like this._ He walked up to Pride Rock and surveyed his Kingdom. He would not officially be king until he roared, declaring his Kingdom. That was the tradition. He didn't feel like roaring. He didn't feel confident. Everything had gone wrong. If he roared, it would be from anger at his destiny. If only Laana would return! But she was most likely dead by now. Everything seemed to be dying.

When the pride awoke, Rabi declared to them, "The King is dead. He died in his sleep. I am the next King." It was amazing how Rabi could act so calm and collected, even though inside, he was overflowing with sadness.

That was a very long day. The whole pride mourned the king's death. Everyone was sad. Except a few lions, who did not like Ukinzani's judgement, so they weren't as sad as the rest. Rabi tried to comfort the pride, saying that Ukinzani was up in the stars now, and he was watching them. This got Rabi to thinking. _Tonight, I will search the stars for my dad. I need him._

That very night, Rabi found a quiet spot away from Pride Rock. He looked up at the stars. They sparkled in the night sky. All the Kings of the past. _There must have been a lot of Kings in the past,_ Rabi realized, _That means a lot of Kings have died before my father. I wonder if they all missed their fathers as much as I do now._

"Father," Rabi said, shaking, hoping his dad would answer, "Please, speak to me,"

The wind rushed over Rabi's face, calming him. The wind was warm and comforting. _Everything is all right,_ the wind whispered, _Everything is all right. Sleep._

Rabi slept.

He dreamed his father was there... licking his fur with his rough tongue. Ukinzani hadn't done this since Rabi was a tiny cub. It felt comforting. _Everything is all right,_ his father said. Rabi relaxed for the first time ever since before Laana left. The rough, warm, tongue on his fur felt so real, it was like his father was literally there. Rabi awoke, still feeling his father licking him, but he looked around, and his father wasn't there at all.

Laana was.

Rabi's heart leaped with joy.

Laana laughed and licked his face. Rabi grinned at her, and licked her back. They started frolicking around like cubs, and every time the other was in range, they would lick them.

Everything _was_ all right!

That morning, just as the sun was rising, Rabi and Laana walked up to Pride Rock.

Rabi roared.

Laana echoed his roar.

The message was clear: this was Rabi and Laana's kingdom, Rabi was The Lion King, and Laana was his Queen. There could be no objections.

Rabi paced impatiently outside the cave. Umeme emerged. Rabi ran up to her. "Is she all right?" He asked.

"She'll be just fine."

"And the cub?"

"The cubs are just fine, too. They're sleeping."

Rabi's eyes widened. "There are _two_?"

Umeme smiled. "No, three."

"_Three!_"

"Yes. Two girls and a boy."

Rabi ran into the cave. There was Laana. and their three cubs.

"Aren't they adorable?" Laana whispered.

"Oh, yes." Rabi licked one of the sleeping cubs.

"What should we name them?"

"Something fitting. I can't think of anything at the moment."

"I already thought of one," she looked at one of the cubs. "We cold name her Jana."

Jana lifted her head and yawned, her little tongue sticking out of her mouth. Her parents laughed.

"We could name the boy after your father," said Laana.

Rabi shook his head. "No. My father will be remembered. He doesn't need someone named after him."

"Then what should we name him?"

"I don't know. But I thought of a name for the other girl. Nali."

"Nali. Do you like that name, Nali?"

Nali was sleeping.

Laana and Rabi tried to think of a name for their little boy. The future King. After a few minutes, Laana finally whispered, "Radhi."

"Yes," said Rabi, "He is our blessing. That is his name."

The sun was high in the sky when Rabi and Laana walked up Pride Rock, Laana carrying Radhi in her mouth. The animals of the kingdom watched as Laana lifted her son so that they all might see their future King. Then she placed him on the edge of the rock. The sun shone brightly, on Radhi, brighter than ever before, and the animals bowed humbly before their future King. The spirits of the Kings of the past welcomed Radhi, and Rabi was never quite sure whether or not he saw Ukinzani grinning broadly at his grandson.


End file.
